Texas House narrowly approves road funding plan

Lawmakers in Austin are poised to spend more on Texas highways, though their plan squeaked through the House by a narrow margin Monday.

House members passed SJR 2 with 105 yes votes, five more than required to put a constitutional amendment before voters. The proposal splits money going now to the rainy day fund between that fund and the state's highway fund.

Lawmakers estimate the funding shift could mean $850 million to $1 billion annually to fix and expand Texas' highways. The money cannot be spent to advance toll road projects or to support future borrowing by the state, but can pay down Texas' current road bond debt.

Senate members added a provision that locks in the rainy day fund to stay above $6 billion, or else the money doesn't go to transportation. The rainy day fund now totals about $8 billion. Some predict the amount in the fund will increase as oil production tax revenues increase.

“Nobody dreamed the rainy day fund would get to those amounts,” said Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, the House sponsor of the Senate proposal.

Senate officials expect to consider changes made by the House on Tuesday, the last day of the special session.

“If you throw a drowning man a life vest that's a size too small, that drowning man isn't going to throw it back,” Phillips said.

The bill, sandwiched between contentious abortion bills on the crowded House calendar, drew opposition from some lawmakers because they said a broader, bigger solution to transportation funding was needed. Others criticized tying transportation spending to a volatile revenue source like oil production taxes.